Bull City Stand Down helps local veterans
DURHAM N.C. (WTVD) -- Event coordinators said about 500 veterans showed up for the Bull City Stand Down on Friday. The Stand Down aims to help homeless and under-resourced veterans find the services they need all in one place, at one time.
Veterans were able to find information on things like financial services and legal counseling. The could also receive vaccinations, haircuts, and meals.
The Stand Down donated items to the vets that are braving the streets.
Coordinator, Kim Burrucker said more than 100 veterans who attended the event are homeless receiving VA benefits, and over 40 are homeless without those benefits. She said the vast majority live with a relative or a friend, but have no home to call their own.
"We are a very rich country," Burrucker said. "We're full of benefits and we shouldn't have any homeless, and especially our veterans who've given so much."
Army Infantry veteran and Durham native Vernon Harris said this was his first time at the Stand Down.
He said he trained over 30,000 soldiers who were deployed overseas during the 27 years he worked in the military.
Harris said he also worked with uranium while in the military. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was forced to retire before he could reach the 30-year mark he was hoping for. Harris now lives on disability.
"My wife, we went through a divorce," Harris said. "She couldn't handle it - the disability. I remarried. I'm a widow now. My other wife, she died from cancer so it's been lonely."
Harris said he went to the Stand Down to find information on how to help pay for college for his son. He says his son is a senior in high school who wants to study chemical engineering at NC State.
"If I had to do it all over again, I'd do the same thing. I enjoyed what I'd done. I did it so my son and other kids can grow up in this free nation we call America and be free," Harris said.
